What Should a Horse Say? / Business Pig

What Should a Horse Say?
Fleur McDonald and Annie White
New Frontier Publishing

Farmer Rochelle has a cow that says ‘moo moo’, a sheep that says ‘baa baa’, a chicken that says ‘chick chick’ and a horse that says, err… ‘chick chick’!
It’s not until she receives a visit from Farmer Hayden who brings a box of six baby ‘chick, chick chick’ -ing baby chicks however, that she questions the sound her horse makes.

Surprisingly Farmer Hayden isn’t sure and none of her other friends can help either, although one does have a cockatoo that says, ‘Can I have more chocolate? Squark!’ Eventually they send for Dr Swan the vet.

Can his investigations offer a solution?

Young children will delight in being in the know throughout the story and relish the silliness of the entire tale. Equally they’ll love the opportunity to make a lot of farmyard sounds as they join in with Fleur McDonald’s telling and enjoy Annie White’s amusing rural watercolours.

Business Pig
Andrea Zuill
Sterling

When Jelly Bean the sow gives birth to five piglets, one stands out from all the others. Given the name Jasper by the animal sanctuary workers, this piglet eschews playing in the mud and rooting for grubs and acorns and quickly becomes a firm favourite at the sanctuary. So much so he’s given his own special space.
There he sets about becoming a business pig, helping with the bookkeeping, holding meetings, producing endless charts and more, to the annoyance of some of his fellow residents. Even worse, he can’t seem to interest anybody in giving him a loving home.

Nevertheless, Jasper is determined and proactive and forms a business marketing plan to get himself adopted; after all he is a
‘gen-u-ine Business Pig’ as one of the workers said at the outset.

It’s not long before his efforts begin to pay off; could it be that the perfect home is in sight …

This playful tale with its themes of determination and being true to yourself, successfully mixes humour and moments of sheer heart-warming charm, both of which are brought out beautifully in Andrea Zuill’s splendidly expressive illustrations.